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Thursday, July 9, 2015

University of Arizona In Ink

The University of Arizona has produced some top notch
athletes, maybe not as often as USC, Ohio State or the Florida schools but it
is always
fun to add some young athletes to my U of A collection. Now not
all are great but at least they show up on cardboard and if I like the player I
am happy to add their autograph to my collection.

In the past 5 years the Wildcats have had a solid run of
QBs that have made the team competitive. Beginning with Willie Tuitama, who was
Junior Seau’s cousin. Tuitama never made it to the NFL after entering the 2009
NFL Draft, he went on to play a couple of years in various indoor football
leagues but has been out of football completely since 2013.

Tuitama was followed by Nick Foles, who has gone on to
have a successful run with the Eagles before being traded to the Rams this
offseason. I have shown the Foles cards I have previously but I am happy to
show them again. I hope he turns the Rams around (as long as they don’t beat the
Seahawks).

Foles was followed by Matt Scott. Like Tuitama,
Scott was undrafted after he entered the 2013 NFL Draft but he signed on with
the Jacksonville Jaguars so he has a couple of Jaguars cards. After the 2013
NFL season he was let go and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals where he is
best known for throwing up on national television (twice) while QBing in a
pre-season game before throwing a TD. He is currently with the Edmonton Eskimos
of the Canadian Football League.

Taking over for Scott was true Freshman Anu Solomon, who
I do not own any cards for yet. He led the Wildcats to a huge away win at
Oregon last year and a Pac-12 Championship Game and this kid is only teenager and is only
going to get better. He has only one official card and that is from the 2012
Upper Deck USA Football release from his high school days. There is an
autograph version but they are rare and expensive so I can wait for now.

This final Wildcat alumni autograph, and my newest addition, has had a wildly successful
career as an athlete and a model, Jennie Finch. At Arizona she threw 8
no-hitters over 4 years, went to the CWS 4 straight years winning once and won
multiple World Championships including a Gold Medal at the 2004 Olympics and a
Silver Medal at the 2008 Olympics. To add to her skills and her looks she is a
role model while working with charities aimed at raising self-esteem for young
girls.

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About Me

I started collecting as a kid but by the time I hit my teens my interests were elsewhere. I returned to the hobby in 1992, just in time to see the junk wax era go in to full swing. My collecting interests have changed over the past 25 years and I prefer to focus on just a couple of players.

My collection is very specific now because I want to keep it controlled and organized, I now focus mainly on my Ken Griffey Jr. & Jay Buhner collections.